1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a commercial washing machine that requires the public to pay charges necessary to use the commercial washing machine.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a laundry machine is a machine that cleans clothes and bedclothes (hereinafter, referred to as “laundry”) through various processes, such as washing, rinsing, spin-drying, and drying, to remove contaminant from the laundry. Representative examples of the laundry machine include a washing machine and a drying machine.
Based on the purpose of use thereof, the washing machine may be classified as a household washing machine or as a commercial washing machine. The household washing machine is installed in a house for washing laundry belonging to family members residing in the house. On the other hand, the commercial washing machine is installed in a Laundromat for requiring a customer who wishes to wash laundry to pay predetermined charges necessary to use commercial washing machine.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the external appearance of a conventional commercial washing machine.
The commercial washing machine includes a machine body 1 forming the external appearance of the washing machine, a tub mounted in the machine body 1 such that the tub is supported by springs and a damper in a shock-absorbing fashion, a drum rotatably mounted in the tub, the drum being provided at the outer circumference thereof with a plurality of water holes, a motor mounted at the rear of the tub for rotating the drum, and a control panel mounted at the front of the machine body 1 for allowing a user to select a function of the washing machine. The control panel includes a main printed circuit board (PCB) for controlling functions of the washing machine. The main PCB includes a power control unit for controlling the supply of power to a drive unit to be allowed or interrupted. Also, the commercial washing machine further includes a charge settlement device 2, such as a coin box for allowing a user to deposit cash, for example a coin, as charges necessary to use the commercial washing machine or a card reader for allowing the user to settle the charges necessary to use the commercial washing machine using a credit card.
The commercial washing machine is installed in a public place such that customers jointly use the commercial washing machine, and therefore, an owner of the commercial washing machine makes a profit. Consequently, the commercial washing machine is designed and manufactured such that the commercial washing machine exhibits higher profit efficiency, stability, maintainability, and durability than the household washing machine.
Specifically, the commercial washing machine further needs a charge settlement device and a control algorithm for the charge settlement device. In addition, the commercial washing machine further needs an additional washing algorithm to maximize the profit of the owner of the commercial washing machine. Furthermore, it is required for the commercial washing machine to be manufactured in a structure in which the commercial washing machine is prevented from being damaged by the customer or components of the commercial washing machine are prevented from being lost by the customer, and, at the same time, the maintenance of the commercial washing machine can be very conveniently and rapidly carried out.
The commercial washing machine is constructed in a structure in which AC power is directly supplied to the machine body 1 Also, the charge settlement device 2 and the machine body 1 are connected to each other via ports such that a control signal related to whether the settlement has been made and the progress of washing can be exchanged between the charge settlement device 2 and the machine body 1.
However, when the machine body and the charge settlement device are separately manufactured, and then the charge settlement device is mounted to the machine body, it is not possible to determine whether a control signal related to the progress of washing is normally generated from the machine body unless the charge settlement device is mounted to the machine body.
Consequently, it is required to mount the charge settlement device at the machine body in order to detect whether the signal from the machine body is abnormal, and, if the signal from the machine body is abnormal, it is required to separate the charge settlement device from the machine body before the machine body is inspected.